Soft, alkaline water - advice needed

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sami

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Messages
2
Newbie here. Very much a novice with aquariums. Just got my daughter a 5 gal tank and couldn't get the pH down below 7.8. Only 10-14 days into cycling and high nitrites too (nitrates 0). We have well water which is treated with water softener. I did a 25% water change yesterday with no change in test strip parameters so I used "pH decreaser" well above the recommended amount on the bottle with no change in pH. I checked the water from my tap and it is very soft and alkaline at 7.8. I then tested the test strips and they read vinegar as acidic so they're ok. I added "Microbe-Lift" yesterday in hopes of lowering nitrites but no difference yet, and no difference with a second 25% water change today.
Should I be doing something else to lower nitrites more quickly?
Should I be doing something else to lower pH more quickly, or is this a losing battle with alkaline tap water?
My test strips don't check ammonia levels, so I'm going to store to get some of those.
Any help or suggestions much appreciated...
Sami
 
1. You generally don't get alkaline soft water - I can make something like that in the lab, but it is not common in natural water system.
2. Test stripe are not terribly accurate. Although the pH test is adequate, I wouldn't trust anything else.
3. pH of 7.8 is just fine for most (or all fish) - no need to mess with it! If the pH is stable (ie same as your tap), let it be. PH do tend to drift up during cycling, you control that with water cahnges.
4. Do not use "pH down" or similar chemicals to alter your pH. Doing so will just give you yo-yo-ing pH & is very stressful to the fish. If you need to alter pH (and you don't from what you said so far), you need to alter the buffering system ... that is an advanced part of the hobby that is needed for maybe 1% of FW systems. (SW is a different story!)
5. It is NOT good practice to use softened water for fish tanks (unless you have a DI/RO unit). An ion exchanged softener basically exchange 2 Na (or K) for each Mg or Ca in the water. The resulting water is depleted in GH (General Hardness) so is good for washing clothes, etc, but it is actually higher in osmolarity (extra Na - sodium - or K). That is not good for fish (& esp plants). <Or people for that matter - that's why some would have a RO unit for drinking water, or use K-exchanged unit.>
6. I suggest you test your water before the softener & use that for your fish tank if it is way off.
7. What kind of cycling you are doing? Different advice for fish vs fishless.
8. Get a liquid test - the stripes are terrible & a waste of money.
9. You can't hurry cycling - most products won't work ... so that is also a waste of money. The only sure way of speeding up cycling is to seed the tank from an established aquarium.

10 - And Welcome to AA!!!
 
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